A DUI charge is not a conviction. Don't plead guilty until you speak with a battle-tested trial attorney.
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If you were arrested for DUI in San Bernardino County, the first thing you need to understand is this: the government has to prove every element of its case beyond a reasonable doubt. That is a high standard, and experienced DUI defense attorneys find cracks in the prosecution's case that most people never see coming.
Breathalyzer machines malfunction. Officers make procedural mistakes. Blood samples get mislabeled or mishandled. Field sobriety tests are notoriously subjective. Traffic stops are conducted without legal justification. Any one of these failures can result in evidence being suppressed — and without evidence, the prosecution's case collapses.
At The Smalls Firm, we have spent 20 years defending DUI cases in San Bernardino County courts. We know the prosecutors, we know the judges, and we know the science. When you call us, you get a battle-tested attorney who will fight from the moment of arrest through every stage of your case — DMV hearing, arraignment, pretrial motions, and trial if necessary.
Do not plead guilty before speaking with us. A guilty plea to DUI can haunt you for the rest of your life. Let us review your case — the consultation is completely free, and the sooner you call, the more options we have.
You have only 10 days from the date of your arrest to request a DMV hearing to fight your license suspension. Miss that deadline and your license is automatically suspended. Call (909) 501-6882 now — we handle the DMV hearing and the criminal case simultaneously so nothing falls through the cracks.
Every DUI case is different. We examine every piece of evidence, every procedure, and every machine involved in your arrest — because the government rarely gets everything right.
The Fourth Amendment requires police to have reasonable suspicion before pulling you over. If the stop was unlawful — whether based on a hunch, a pretextual reason, or no reason at all — every piece of evidence collected afterward can be thrown out. We scrutinize dashcam footage, officer body cam footage, and dispatch records to expose illegal stops. Without a lawful stop, there is no case.
Breathalyzer machines require precise calibration, regular maintenance, and must be operated by a trained officer using an approved protocol. Any deviation can produce a false reading. Medical conditions like acid reflux, diabetes, or even a low-carb diet can produce falsely elevated readings. We subpoena calibration logs, maintenance records, and officer certifications to expose every flaw in the breath test evidence.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) standardized field sobriety tests — the Walk-and-Turn, One-Leg Stand, and Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus — are not infallible. Poor lighting, uneven pavement, nervousness, inner ear problems, certain medications, or physical disabilities can all affect performance on these tests. We hold the arresting officer to a strict examination of their training, their instructions to you, and the conditions under which the test was given.
Blood draws must follow a rigorous chain of custody — from the draw itself to the lab analysis to storage and eventual presentation in court. A break anywhere in that chain can render the test inadmissible. We demand full disclosure of how your blood was drawn, stored, transported, and tested. Lab technician errors, contamination, fermentation of the sample, and improper preservation all create viable defenses that we pursue aggressively.
Your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) continues to rise after you stop drinking. If you were pulled over shortly after your last drink, your BAC at the time of driving may have been below 0.08% even if the breathalyzer tested you above that limit an hour later. This "rising BAC" defense is a legitimate and often powerful argument, and it requires a thorough understanding of the absorption and elimination rates of alcohol in the human body — something we understand in depth.
Officers must follow a long list of legal requirements during a DUI arrest — from the initial stop to the reading of your Miranda rights to the administration of chemical tests. Violations of these procedures, including failing to advise you of your right to an independent blood test or improperly administering chemical tests, can result in evidence being suppressed or the charges being reduced or dismissed. We leave no procedural stone unturned.
A first-offense DUI under Vehicle Code 23152 in California is typically charged as a misdemeanor. While it may seem like a minor matter, a conviction carries up to 6 months in jail, fines and assessments that can exceed $2,000, a 6-month license suspension, DUI school, and 3 to 5 years of probation. Courts and prosecutors in San Bernardino County do not treat DUI lightly.
The good news: first offenses often have the most room for negotiation and legal challenge. We have helped many first-time DUI defendants achieve dismissals, wet reckless reductions, or negotiated outcomes that kept a permanent conviction off their records.
A second DUI within 10 years carries mandatory minimum jail time, a two-year license revocation, an 18-month DUI school requirement, and the installation of an ignition interlock device. In many cases, restricted driving privileges can be restored sooner through the IID program. A third DUI remains a misdemeanor but is prosecuted aggressively, carrying a mandatory minimum of 120 days in jail and up to one year. Prior DUI convictions cannot be expunged from your driving record, making it critical to fight every charge as if it were your first.
We comb the records of prior convictions to determine whether those earlier cases were handled properly. Improperly obtained prior convictions may be challengeable, which can significantly reduce the sentence enhancement you face on the current charge.
A DUI becomes a felony in California under four circumstances: it is your fourth or subsequent DUI within 10 years; someone was injured as a result; someone was killed; or you have a prior felony DUI conviction on your record — regardless of when that prior conviction occurred. Felony DUI penalties include state prison time, large fines, and a potentially permanent loss of your driver's license.
Felony DUI cases demand the most aggressive defense. We work with accident reconstruction experts, medical experts, and toxicologists to challenge the prosecution's theory of the case. Our goal is always to reduce felony charges to misdemeanor level whenever possible, or to achieve an acquittal at trial.
Vehicle Code 23153 — DUI causing injury — can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the severity of the injuries and your prior record. If someone was seriously injured, prosecutors will almost certainly seek felony charges, which carry up to 3 years in state prison, plus an additional consecutive year for each victim who suffered great bodily injury.
These cases involve civil liability as well as criminal prosecution, and the evidence is typically more complex — accident reconstruction reports, medical records, toxicology, and often competing theories about fault. We have the experience to handle both dimensions simultaneously.
Driving under the influence of drugs — whether illegal drugs, prescription medications, or even marijuana — is prosecuted under the same statute as alcohol-related DUI. Drug impairment DUI cases often hinge on the testimony of a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE), an officer trained to identify drug impairment through a 12-step examination protocol.
DRE opinions are far from infallible and are subject to rigorous cross-examination. Many of the physiological signs that a DRE identifies as "drug impairment" can be explained by fatigue, illness, or medical conditions. We know how to dismantle DRE testimony effectively in San Bernardino courtrooms.
California's zero tolerance law under Vehicle Code 23136 makes it illegal for anyone under 21 to drive with a BAC of 0.01% or more — essentially any detectable amount of alcohol. This is far stricter than the adult standard of 0.08%. Even a single drink can trigger charges, a one-year license suspension, and serious consequences for a young person's future.
We understand the stakes for young people facing DUI charges. A conviction can affect college enrollment, financial aid, employment prospects, and much more. Our goal is to protect your future, and we pursue every available defense to get underage DUI charges reduced or dismissed.
Understanding the process removes fear from the equation. Here is exactly what happens from arrest to resolution — and how we fight for you at every stage.
After a DUI arrest, you are booked and typically released on bail or your own recognizance within hours. The clock on your 10-day DMV deadline begins the moment you are arrested. Your license may be confiscated and replaced with a temporary driving permit. Call us immediately — the earlier we get involved, the more options we have to protect you.
You must contact the DMV within 10 days of your arrest to request a hearing to contest your license suspension. This is a completely separate process from the criminal case — if you miss the deadline, your suspension is automatic. We handle this hearing on your behalf, and we often use it as an opportunity to gather evidence and cross-examine the arresting officer before the criminal trial even begins.
Your arraignment is your first court appearance, usually within a few weeks of the arrest. This is where formal charges are entered and you enter an initial plea. We almost always enter a not guilty plea at arraignment — this preserves your rights and gives us time to gather all of the evidence and evaluate every possible defense before making strategic decisions.
This is where the real work happens. We obtain all evidence the prosecution intends to use against you: police reports, dashcam and bodycam footage, breathalyzer calibration logs, blood test results, chain of custody records, and the arresting officer's training certifications. We review every document for errors, constitutional violations, and inconsistencies that can form the basis of our defense strategy.
This is often where DUI cases are won. We file motions to suppress evidence that was illegally obtained, motions to dismiss based on constitutional violations, and motions to exclude unreliable scientific evidence. A successful suppression motion can gut the prosecution's case entirely — if the breathalyzer result is thrown out, there may simply be no case left to prosecute.
Depending on the strength of the remaining evidence, we may negotiate with the prosecutor for a reduced charge — often a "wet reckless" (reckless driving with alcohol), which carries significantly less severe consequences than a DUI conviction and does not count as a prior DUI for sentencing purposes on future offenses. If the prosecution will not offer a fair resolution, we take the case to trial. We are not a firm that pleads everyone out — we are trial attorneys, and the prosecution knows it.
Your DUI case review is 100% confidential. No cost, no obligation. The sooner you call, the more options we have to defend you.